hoi polloi are calling all fruit lovers

Join hoi polloi and help create a local community orchard in Harrow - right from your own garden.

Our aim is to harvest and maintain fruit trees in Harrow to develop a sustainable community which can share local fruit to produce healthy food.

Latest News

Wassail 2016

Wassailing is an ancient tradition which seeks to bless the apple orchard to encourage a good harvest for the coming year.
Join us on Saturday 16th January (The day before Old Twelfth Night!) from 4p.m. until 6p.m.
Meet at Simply Daisy's at Hatch End and be prepared for the muddy playing fields.
Bless the apple trees at the Diamond Community Orchard.
Join in the music and singing.
Share some mulled apple juice and cider.

Apple Day 2015

There will be an Apple Day at Grim's Dyke Hotel on Sunday 11th October.
Please come and celebrate in the Rose Garden between 1pm and 5pm.
Fun activities for all ages and an opportunity to press your own apple juice.
Meet local experts on the cultivation, conservation and cooking of apples.
Other stalls showcase local produce and crafts.

Wassail 2015

Wassailing is an ancient tradition which seeks to bless the apple orchard to encourage a good harvest for the coming year.
Join us on Saturday 17th January (Old Twelfth Night!) from 4p.m. until 6p.m.
Meet at Simply Daisy's at Hatch End and be prepared for the muddy playing fields.
Bless the apple trees at the Diamond Community Orchard.
Share some mulled apple juice and cider.

Whitethorn Morris

Apple Day in Harrow at Grim’s Dyke Hotel, Old Redding on Sunday 12th October to celebrated our local fruit harvest. This year Whitethorn Morris provided added bounce to the proceedings as a range of arts brightened up the day. Around 100
people sampled the fresh apple juice pressed from apples grown in Harrow as well as cider produced from the apples of the Gilbert Orchard. Local arts and crafts contributed: Helen with her exquisite silver jewellery, Miriam’s scrumptious Munchies, Harrow
Nature Conservation Forum, Brian with honey from the bees which pollinate our fruit trees and Harrow Friends of the Earth. Helenka Jurgielewicz – the Head Gardener at Grim’s Dyke Hotel guided visitors around Lady Gilbert’s orchard and showed the newly planted
fruit trees funded by Green Grid for its conservation. Pippa Reid and Claudia Mernick enchanted visitors with a Storywalk through the orchard and were supported this year by Vivien Ellis who led the music with songs about our apples.
News report http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/11534881.Gardening_group_holds_apple_day_celebration/

Apple Day 2014

There will be an Apple Day at Grim's Dyke Hotel on Sunday 12th October.
Please come and celebrate in the Rose Garden between 1pm and 5pm.
Fun activities for all ages and an opportunity to press your own apple juice.
Meet local experts on the cultivation, conservation and cooking of apples.
Other stalls showcase local produce and crafts.

Green Drinks

Last Thursday Green Drinks visited RNOH Stanmore to see the old orchard and harvest some of this year's crop.
Unfortunately the harvest was not as great as last year, but a good selection of Annie Elizabeth, Monarch and Newton Wonder were collected.
A selection of goodies were then sampled as darkness fell. There were a couple of apple cakes and some Scrumpy Cider from last year's RNOH Stanmore apples!

Apple Press

Old version of an apple press!
Found in Buckland Abbey, the Devon Home of Sir Francis Drake.

Harvesting by Yeading Brook

The apples were not ready, but the damsons were plentiful!
Lots left in the freezer - ideal for Damson Gin...

Apple Pie

Nothing is as American as apple pie! Right? But like a lot of "traditional American" customs, apple pies were not born in he United States. In the 14th century, meat pies were common all over Europe. Before too long, people started turning these meals
into a dessert by replacing the meat with fruit, such as cherries, pear, quinces or apples. By the time of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) apple - and apple pie - had become one of her favourites. It would later make its way to the New World and
becomes "as American as apple pie".

Wassailing

Wassailing is an ancient tradition which seeks to bless the apple orchard to encourage a good harvest for the coming year.
Join us on Friday 17th January (Old Twelfth Night!) from 4p.m. until 6p.m.
Meet at Simply Daisy's at Hatch End and be prepared for the muddy playing fields.
Bless the apple trees at the Diamond Community Orchard.
Share some mulled apple juice and cider.

RNOH Stanmore

Restorative Pruning at RNOH Stanmore
London Orchard Project (LOP) have funding for three days of restorative pruning for the old heritage orchard at the hospital: 27th January, 8th February, 17th February 2014. Volunteer support is welcome for these days and you will receive training as well.
For more details: www.hoipolloi.btck.co.uk/Events
Find out more about LOP: www.thelondonorchardproject.org
Please let hoi polloi if you wish to participate.

Waitrose Weekend Wisdom

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
Greek Proverb

I propose we adopt it as:
“A society grows great when old men plant apple trees whose fruit they know they shall never taste.”

Apple Day 2013

There will be an Apple Day at Grim's Dyke Hotel on Sunday 13th October.
Please come and celebrate in the Rose Garden between 1pm and 5pm.
Fun activities for all ages and an opportunity to press your own apple juice.
Meet local experts on the cultivation, conservation and cooking of apples.
Other stalls showcase local produce and crafts.

Flower Festival

The Friends of Pinner Parish Church are celebrating over the weekend 27th - 29th September and
hoi polloiwill be supporting at the Flower Festival on the Saturday. Come and enjoy the apple juice from the church apple tree. As well as all the other activities.

Apple Day 2012

There will be an Apple Day at Grim's Dyke Hotel on Sunday 14th October.
Please come and celebrate between 1pm and 5pm.
Fun activities and an opportunity to press your own apple juice.
Meet local experts on the cultivation, conservation and cooking of apples in the Rose Garden.
Additional stalls this year to showcase local produce and crafts.

Diamond Community Orchard

The remaining trees were planted on a sunny Good Friday morning. An enthusiastic group dug holes, planted and watered the saplings then sampled some apple juices: the tangy and refreshing Cox and Bramley and the popular Egremont Russet. More pictures
are available on the hoi polloi Facebook page.

Big Dig

A further 9 apple trees were planted during the Big Dig. It was not the brightest day, but Richard and Susan Wootten planted a Rosemary Russet which is a Middlesex variety.

First Tree

The first apple tree in the Community Orchard was planted by the Papillion Montessori Pre School. The 2-4 year-olds help plant an Egremont Russet and then sampled apple juice from this variety. It was sweet and refreshing. More pictures are available
on the hoi polloi Facebook page.

The Big Dig

Plant a Community Orchard at Hatch End Playing Fields.
Saturday 17th March at 10am.
Juice and jollity for all...

Visitors were guided around Lady Gilbert’s orchard by Helenka Jurgielewicz – the Head Gardener at Grim’s Dyke Hotel and encouraged to support her conservation work by Harrow Conservation Volunteers Forum. The celebration was completed by a range of scrumptious
cakes and treats from Miriam’s Munchies.

So Much Fun

Around one hundred people participated in this enjoyable event. The main activity was preparing and sampling fresh apple juice made from apples grown in Harrow. People were delighted by the freshness and taste.
Local experts: Matthew Biggs – the people’s gardener and David Curry from Hertfordshire Orchard Initiative provided advice on the cultivation and benefits of apples, whilst Claudia Mernick and Pippa Reid appealed to the child in each of us with enchanting ‘apple
tales’.

Apple Day

There will be an Apple Day at Grim's Dyke Hotel on Sunday 16th October.
Please come and celebrate between 1pm and 5pm.
Fun activities and an opportunity to press your own apple juice.
Meet local experts on the cultivation, conservation and cooking of apples in the Rose Garden.

Now on Facebook

You can Like us on Facebook - we are one of many 'hoi polloi'.
We are for Apples in Harrow.

Quote for the week

"Live as if you are going to die tomorrow,
Garden as if you are going to live forever."
Rudyard Kipling

Launch

hoi polloi is launching in June 2011.
Look out for us around the borough...

Pinner SeedlingThere is an apple variety called "Pinner Seedling" which was cultivated locally.
Do any of these fruit trees still survive in Harrow?